Why are patients admitted to the hospital for a simple routine CT scan?

[BSN_Studnt]

I was wondering why patients who receive Computed Tomography Angiograph (vs the more invasive version in which a catheter is placed in groin) why would these patients be required to run through admissions , registration and be admitted for something as simple as a special CT scan when there paperwork most of the time says "expect to be at our facility for 2 hours? My only hunches would be if the dr didn't want the Pt to leave the hospital until the radiologist interpretated the scans in case of possible emergency surgery? I understand that there are scenarios in which patients don't need to drive there in a LT situation and need to be admitted right away to get that scan done. But these patients drive here by themselves and leave by themselves . It's so bizarre thinking about all that work and money just to get a quick 1-2minute scan ?!

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Patients do through Registration to get all of their information into the hospitals EMR before the test can be done. There is a difference between out-patient admission and in-patient admission. Out-patient admission is what you were stating "expect to be in our facility for 2 hrs." An out-patient bed is not an overnight room. If a patient gets a CT scan with contrast, they will get an IV in which the tech injects the contrast for the test. After the test, the patient is placed in an out-patient bed and observed for a period of time to ensure that there was no reaction to the contrast. Once it is determined that they haven't had a reaction, they are sent home.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

That's not an admission. They have to go through registration so the facility can bill for the scan.

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

On top of the reasons stated above, when a patient is receiving care at a facility, it's necessary for the facility to have a record of that visit and medical information (allergies, emergency contacts, etc.) in case that patient experiences any medical emergencies while in the facility.

[twiddlywinks]

I am in a short stay unit in the hospital, specifically for patients like this. It's technically outpatient, but we are open 24 hrs Mon-Fri, closing up on Saturday am. The docs send us small surgeries, biopsies, and anything from the ED that needs a little more observation. We give the patient a room, but they aren't even always there overnight, but can stay up to 48 hrs.